Little Drops of Life
by michelaski
Summary: Ed and Al are still searching for anything that could lead them to the Philosopher's stone, when a trip to the south brings them an unexpected companion...they get more than just the answers they were hoping for.


**A/N:** Hi everyone! Aside from the usual disclaimer about how I only own My characters...these being Taya, her father and Greg(for now there's more)and own nothing of FMA except for various DVD's, OSTs and Manga...I just wanted to say that this story is going to be **mostly** told from Taya's point of view. So If you don't like the idea, then don't read it.

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Chapter one

It had been a long day here in Central. I was bored and tired of helping around in dad's office but I had nothing better to do…mom was too busy helping out kids in the school library and Roy was also too busy in his office, avoiding paperwork and trying to make sure Riza wouldn't shoot him on one of her random checkups. It was really funny to watch sometimes though.

"Take a walk…it's a nice day and I don't need your help…that's why I have them," dad said, pointing over to his 'cronies' as I liked to call them. It was quite sad though…I preferred Roy's goons, they were more colorful…sadly; they were sent all over the place…it kinda killed it…

"Fine dad…I'll go see what Schiezka is up to…" I said, getting up from the couch and walking out of his office. It really was a nice day outside…I would give him that much credit…so I decided to head into the cafeteria instead and just lounge around for a bit.

* * *

"Nii-san…I know you're not happy about our progress and about what the colonel might tell you about the fake stone but we really should sit down and think about our next move…" Alphonse told his older brother as they walked through the halls of Central HQ.

"I know Al, but I want to get this out of the way. That pompous bastard will get a piece of my mind soon enough…" Ed said as they stormed the halls near Mustang's office, ready to pounce. He was really furious that it turned out to be a false lead what he had been given. He opened the door and saw Mustang at his desk, talking to someone.

"Anyway, you really think that any of these leads are the real thing?" the owner of the foreign form in the room asking. It was female and Ed noticed that she was leaning against Roy's desk. She was wearing black pants and had on a yellow shirt that was slightly covered due to her arms being folded across her chest. She looked mildly amused...though the reason why was a blank.

"None of them seem genuine to you?" he asked, looking from his papers. He had caught wind of an alchemist that was doing quite generous handiwork...then again...it was word of mouth.

"Are you going to send him on a wild goose chase again? He's going to kill you," the female said, the door to Roy's office closing as Al stepped in. Taya looked over her shoulder and saw blonde hair and a really tall suit of armor.

"He wouldn't dare," Roy tested, apparently not aware of Ed's arrival.

"Yeah, I would if you send me on another stupid goose chase!" Ed cried, Taya taking a step back and making her way towards the exit.

"Hi! I'm Alphonse," started the armor, holding out his hand to the female.

"Taya Vartann," she said, taking the armored hand and shaking it. She smiled at him and she could feel the happiness radiate off him by the sound of his voice. "Nice to meet you!"

"Are you here to help out the colonel?"

"Nah, I just came here because I had nothing better to do…dad had a meeting in his office…"

"Where does your dad work?"

"Here in Central, he's Brigadier General Vartann," Taya said, curious as to why the armor sounded so hollow.

"Oh," Alphonse said, looking over to Ed, who was about to go into a yelling frenzy with Roy.

"Leave them be…" Taya said, reaching for the door. Alphonse looked over to his brother and covered his 'ears' once he heard Ed go off. When he looked back at the door, Taya was already gone. He took a seat, though it really wasn't necessary, and waited around for Ed and Roy to finish sniping at each other. Once they were both much calmer, they began to talk.

"The lead was bogus…much like every other you've sent me out to go for…" Ed said, seething.

"It's not entirely my fault!" Roy argued once again.

"Yes it is! You should check them out better!"

"Would you two stop already?" Al yelled, getting up. Both males turned to the armor and sighed.

"I guess I can dig a bit deeper…" Roy mumbled, Ed smirking smugly.

"That's all I ask…" Ed said as he received some papers from Roy and sighed. "I'll go fill these out…"

"Colonel…who is Brigadier Vartann?" Al asked.

"Ah! He's a good friend of mine…I've known him for quite a while…has one daughter, Taya," Roy started.

"I know…I just met her," Alphonse said, sitting down. "What was she doing here? She looked to be about brother's age…she's not an alchemist…is she?"

"Nope, though Sam wants her to find out what her forte is…she's training to be one…" Roy said, straightening up. "She's been pretty good with water alchemy…it's been her strongest so far…"

"What can she do?"

"I'll let her show you herself once she's ready enough…nobody's really seen her in action…" the male said, burning a few papers in a small bowl. His eyes scanned through another paper and he burned that one too before putting his glove away.

"Oh…" Alphonse said, a light knock on the door interrupting everything.

"Come in," Roy said, the door slowly opening and revealing a tall male in his military uniform. His hair was brown and a bit shaggy, clean shaven and his eyes were a sparkling blue. "Ah! Sam!" he cried, getting up. "What brings you to my office?"

"I'm looking for Taya," Samuel spoke, looking around and seeing a blonde head of hair. "You must be Edward Elric…I've heard so much about you," he said, walking over to Ed and getting his attention. He grinned and quickly stood, shaking Samuel's hand. "Quite the talent," he said, Ed's grin getting bigger.

"Thank you sir!" Ed cried, Roy placing a hand at Sam's shoulder.

"Taya left when these two came in…she's probably helping our Hawkeye up at the Fuhrer's office or down at the cafeteria having lunch without you…" Roy said, Samuel nodding.

"She has to go meet her alchemy teacher in an hour…I'll see her when I get home tonight…I have more work to do…" Sam said as he left the office.

"So he's Taya's dad?" Alphonse asked, Roy nodding in response. "He's really tall…"

"Yeah, too bad your brother will never be that tall…" Ed twitched in his seat as he got back to work on the paper work and decided that he would take his revenge on the colonel when he fell asleep in his seat from not working…

* * *

"I think you're ready to try it on someone…" Greg told Taya once she successfully used her bodily water to make a plant bloom. "Take a nice heavy drink, let your body absorb it…" he said, giving her a glass full of water and a pitcher to keep refilling at her own leisure.

"Try what?"

"We'll work on a corpse…it'll be easier to absorb with little effort…" he continued, Taya getting a clear idea of what he was getting at. "Remember, you can only use this move on dire emergencies…"

"I know…but why are you letting me play with such a thing?" Taya asked.

"Well, you seem to grasp the concept of life and death better than any of my other students…and you're quite gifted with water…I keep telling you that there's potential there…why don't you try moving the water from the pitcher to the glass without pouring it?" Taya swallowed and clasped her hands together, the drawings on her hands making contact, before pressing them onto the pitcher.

"It's not working…" she said, looking up at Greg. The male's hair was starting to gray since he hit his 50's and it was getting messier by the day.

"Try putting a finger in the pitcher…" he said, Taya doing as instructed and smiling. She got it…she need to be in contact with the water directly to be able to manipulate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in the air. She lifted up the finger and started tracing her name in the air, Greg smiling. "I told your father you had a gift with water…"

"Apparently I do," Taya said, grinning as she got up from the table and started playing around with the water. "I wonder how long it'll last…" Taya said, the water giving away as her focus waned…

"All right, it seems it'll last as long as you focus on it it'll last as long as you want it to," Greg said, Taya nodding in agreement. "Now...is there anything you would like to do before we continue on with the experimenting of your alchemy?"

"No, I'm good," Taya said, taking a sip of water. "Let's get started."

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And that's Chapter one. Hope you liked it. ^^


End file.
